Please take a moment and make a financial contribution to TheFunded. If we have helped you, help us with resources to further grow the both the site and our entrepreneur training program, The Founder Institute.

Was introduced to Evangelos Simoudis knowing we were too small for their firm. Evangelos was on time and quite helpful, listened well. At first he treated me a bit like a new kid, but once I established my bone fides, the conversation turned serious and he treated with me respect; also offered short advice sessions as we grow.

Our experience pitching the fund was pretty good. We had a lively discussion and concluded with a soft yes, albeit with a caveat. They also offered a couple of referrals, and those were well-received. Overall, I found both Mike and Mark as pretty down-to-earth guys with a reasonable investment mandate, as compared to other fund managers we have met with. Granted, hard to learn alot in 1.5 hrs, but my initial experience was very positive. Now we just have to work on that caveat to see if they follow-through with the DD :)

Posted by
myvizn
on 2008-10-05

PUBLIC:

Met with Mark I. and Mark P. very nice guys who completely understood what we were presenting. They gave us more time than we expected and asked us to come back again and pitch to the board after answering some questions. I saw Trident as the firm over all others we talked to that understands entrepreneurs and are willing to lend support. More feedback after next meeting.

My exposure to the firm was minimal as they did not invest in my company, but it was one of the best VC experiences I've ever had. I only met Evangelos (who is a managing director but at the time of writing not listed on The Funded under Trident). He was incredibly polite. He listened, asked relevant questions and when the pitch was done he gave me a timeline and process for decision making. Moreover, he stuck to his timeline! I pitched on a Wednesday. He responded to my thank you e-mail immediately, re-capping their decision process and timeline. They had their partner meeting on Monday and on Tuesday I got a note from him explaining why they weren't investing in clear concise terms. I was simply flabbergasted. For all of us who encountered the infuriating VC disease of no-reply, no-decision, Evangelos at least was a thankful exception.

Posted by
jbenowitz
on 2007-11-25

PUBLIC:

I have had the opportunity to work with Trident Capital twice-once as a CEO in 1996 and again as a Board Chairman in 2004. In both cases we raised around $10.0 million in two separate rounds of financing. The first company culminated with a successful IPO and an ultimate sale to a larger public company. Trident is still active in the second one and has helped secure a strategic investor at a very favorable valuation.

Posted by
pkondepudi
on 2007-10-25

PUBLIC:

I am the CEO of a technology company focused on creating efficiencies in specific segments of Mortgage/Real Estate market. Earlier this year we closed our first external round of funding and after careful diligence we picked Trident Capital as our investor partner. It is a tough choice when you have more than one VC interested in investing in the company. All the partners we interacted with at Trident Capital were class act and the overall process was highly efficient. It was Venetia Kontogouris's leadership, her diligence and ability to garner resources to provide right guidance impressed us the most. From the time we closed the round, VK has been a wonderful board member to work with and her networking abilities are truly exceptional.

Posted by
Robert H Shellman
on 2007-10-15

PUBLIC:

I am the CEO of a rapidly growing company in the transportation supply chain BPO space. Our transportation freight under management will exceed $600 million this year and net revenues grow by 30% annually.

Four and half years ago we launched the company with a $20M funding from the VC community. All CEO's are often very lonely in negotiating/deciding a deal structure and selecting the lead and follow-on investors. I would recommend minimizing the number of investors and the size of the Board. It can be very difficult working with a large number of diverse personalities as well as wasting precious time trying to gain alignment among the various Board members.

We were lucky to have several lead term sheets and many interested follow-on investors. You need to be very careful when selecting a lead as this will drive the rest of the process for good or bad. We were fortunate enough to have selected Trident Capital as the lead investor and have been exceptionally pleased with both the initial closing process and the continual support in all categories. They were efficient on the due diligence and provided significant insight for deal structure. Most important they were flexible in accommodating deal modifications that we believed were important. Trident has continued to facilitate/support the company as we invest for growth and international expansions. The Trident partner on our transaction was Venetia Kontogouris.

Posted by
TStevens
on 2007-09-20

PUBLIC:

I am the CEO of a company that has Trident as an investor. The lead partner is Evangelos Simoudis. Evangelos is a great business partner. He takes the time to understand our industry and the challenges in building the business. He is supportive but in a way that holds you accountable, which I appreciate. He is a tremendous networking resource. I am very pleased to have Evangelos as an investor and board member.

Posted by
ceobythebay
on 2007-09-13

PUBLIC:

I am the CEO of a privately held company that has Trident as one of its largest investors. We have had a couple of false/slow starts to our business, but Trident has been a very supportive partner through multiple rounds with deal terms that reflect the value of the business and what we need to do to give value to the common.

John Moragne is on our Board and is a bright, thoughtful and constructive member of our team. He is good at elevating conversation forcing us to be strategic and helps to maintain a productive Board environment. Like everyone I have dealt with at Trident, he is busy but always there when we need him. He has helped me recruit team members, close acquisitions, recruit outside Board members etc. He has also had others at Trident help us in a variety of ways over time including Don Dixon (client reference), Woody Marshall (education on our some areas we were interested in growing), Howard Zeprun (advice on our re-financing - he is terrific as well as exposure to all of his other partners and staff. I've also enjoyed my interactions with Venetia and Peter in the past.

Given my experience, I don't understand posts that don't feel as though they get the support from Trident and John specifically. They and he are always there, but I do sometimes need to ask.

Posted by
kindofabigdeal
on 2007-08-28

PUBLIC:

In my opinion, I found Trident refreshing through my multiple fundraising rounds. They never led us on, or made us go through unnecessary cycles. I found Don Dixon and their VP, Arneek, asking the right questions and doing productive diligence. Many of the other brand-name firms tied up our entire team in meeting after meeting without any clear next steps. When you're raising money it's very important you don't get too far distracted from running your business, and I appreciated their direct candor and fair deal terms.

Posted by
Anonymous
on 2007-08-28

PUBLIC:

I am the CEO and co-founder of a privately held company. Our Series A round was led by Trident and Don Dixon sits on our board. I am surprised by some of the negative comments about Trident on this site. We have found Trident to be a great partner- very supportive, strategic, and well-connected. Prior to selecting Trident for the Series A round I asked two other CEOs that had raised money with Trident in the past about their experience. Each said that if they were to do it again, they would definitely go with Trident. I agree.

Posted by
Entrepreneur
on 2007-08-07

PUBLIC:

Simply the worst bait and switch experience I have ever seen. Their in house lawyer runs the show, and will load up the deal with so much protection for themselves that you will owe them money when the deal is done. Not even close to as good as how good they keep telling you they are.

Trident has made a lot of money as an expansion growth VC group. Once upon a time there wasn't a lot of money available to scale between VC's and Public exits. Times are now different, and they have a lot of competition that adds value outside of capital. Met twice with near full partnership. Not very impressive outside of making it clear that they were imperious name droppers. Don Dixon had a very hard time getting his ego through the doorway.

Exhaust all other options before agreeing to work with this firm. They have historically had a good reputation in the industry and I was eager to get them involved with our company, but having worked with them now, I really can't see why.

These guys invested in our company and remained on the board after the IPO. Zero operational input. Although they particated in the board meetings, there was no value-add at all. Just agree with the CEO and sell after the lock-up. I wouldn't work with this firm again.